My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

Condition: the
sheet is trimmed irregularly at the top edge; the timber frame is unvarnished
and has minor signs of its age (i.e. yellow oxidisation, insect specks and
dustiness) and the backing sheet should be replaced.

I am selling
this very early and rare drawing (in the sense that Miller destroyed/culled
most of his early drawings) for AU$900 (currently US$654.56/EUR588.84/GBP451.89
at the time of posting this drawing) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this original and very early drawing by one of
Australia’s most famous artists, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

(Note that this
photo has reflections that are not a part of the drawing)

For me this
life class study of a male nude has slight overtones of androgyny and I had to
think hard why this is so.

The first
reason that sprung to mind is that Miller has erased the arms, legs and face of
the figure: arguably, a masculine way of looking at attractive females.

There is also
the curious failure to draw the genitals: a missing feature that is possibly a
symptom of the age of censure from which this drawing arose rather than a
delight in castration.

The third
reason has to do with the sensitive treatment of the contrapposto pose (i.e.
the S-shaped rhythm passing through the figure) in that, Miller seems to
lovingly/tentatively/softly stroke the edges of forms rather than using
emphatic/manly/unambiguous marks to portray him. (My sincere apologies if any
of the above descriptions of gender attributes are inaccurate or too sweeping
in their categorisations.)

Condition: the
sheet has a pinhole on the right side of the figure; there is a bubble in the
Perspex/acrylic sheet; the timber frame is unvarnished and has minor signs of
its age (i.e. yellow oxidisation, insect specks and dustiness) and the backing
sheet should be replaced.

I am selling
this framed very early and rare drawing (in the sense that Miller destroyed/culled
most of his early drawings) for AU$900 (currently US$654.56/EUR588.84/GBP451.89
at the time of posting this drawing) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this original and very early drawing by one of
Australia’s most famous artists, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

Although this
early drawing by Godfrey Miller is an academic study executed from direct
observation during a life class, it has many of the hallmarks of his mature
works. By this I mean that the line work shows Miller visually searching for
the structure of the figure’s form in a way that a blind person might “feel”
the figure’s surface tensions, curves, soft and hard spots. This approach is
often described—at least by me—as a haptic approach as opposed to a strictly
visual one. What is especially lovely to see is the way that Miller phrases his
lines by varying the pressure on the pencil so that the lines flow in the
pictorial space of the image or punctuate important landmarks like the figure’s
navel.

Condition:
marvellous well-inked impression with plate tone and retroussage (i.e. ink
lightly dragged from the etched lines), signed in pencil with a thin spot in
lower margin (verso) and remnants of mounting hinges (verso); otherwise in
excellent condition. There is an ink stamp monogram "KG" (verso).

I am selling
this iconic image—and one seldom seen for sale—from the Heidelberg School,
acclaimed masterwork by Heysen for AU$2300 in total (currently US$1673.48/EUR1504.78/GBP1155.54
at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this image with all the strength and heroic stature of
a Millet (without the melancholy), please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

This is Hans
Heysen’s most famous print and, arguably, one of the most famous prints in
Australia. In my opinion, it is also one of the few images in the genre of
rural work that can hold its own commanding presence even when placed beside
the works of legendary masters like Jean-Francois Millet (1814–75). In short,
this is a masterwork.

Regarding its
status in the oeuvre of Heysen, Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan offer the
following account: “The drawing for this etching on a sheet of studies of a man
ploughing with a two horse team, in the collection of the Art Gallery of South
Australia. The study and etching are about the same size. A larger, fully
developed charcoal drawing of the same subject was made after the etching and
the Wynne Prize winning watercolour 'The toilers' in 1920. The two draught
horses in these works are Polly and Jack, who were regularly brought in to
plough and cultivate the soil at Heysen's property 'The Cedars' at Hahndorf. Another
watercolour of them ploughing is in the Gallery's collection. Heysen was able
to proof his etchings on his lithographic press, but the edition was printed by
Lionel Lindsay, who encouraged Heysen to etch. 'Turning the plough' was
included in the first exhibition of the Painter-Etchers Society in 1921 …”
(Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan, “Australian prints from the Gallery's
collection”, AGNSW, 1998).

Original chine
collé lithograph on buff coloured wove paper with wide margins and signed in
the plate.

Size: (sheet)
50.4 x 33 cm; (chine collé image) 21.5 x 16.8 cm

Condition:
strong chine collé impression with pencil addition to the upper framing edge
(suggesting that this is a proof and annotated in pencil by the artist). The
sheet has light unevenness arising from the applique process and is slightly
dusty with a bumped lower-right corner.

I am selling
this delicate and very romantic original lithograph for AU$116 in total
(currently US$84.40/EUR75.86/GBP58.27 at the time of posting this listing)
including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this soft, dreamily enigmatic portrait, please contact
me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to
make the payment easy.

I originally
purchased this original lithograph simply because the print looked beautiful
and I’ve a soft spot for demure dreamy young women. There is something
strangely compelling about this print that goes beyond the charm of the
portrayed young lady and it’s all about the strong borderline framing the
portrait.

In one sense
this frame makes my view of the long haired beauty seem very intimate and
constricted. In another sense the curved corners of the frame gives the
impression—at least for me—of some sort of psychological weight bearing down on
her. There is also a graphic element that is not really a part of the frame but
which also plays a role: the pencil additions surrounding the lithograph at the
top edge of the chine collé presumably made by the artist in this proof print.
These pencil marks give an emphatically eye-catching broken edge to the upper
portion of the frame line suggesting—again from a personal viewpoint—the
ephemeral spirit of the portrayed subject; a bit like a faded old photograph
framed within its crisp border as a negative.

Condition:
crisp lifetime impression of the utmost rarity, cut on the plate mark on laid
paper in excellent condition. Framed with a simple limed wood moulding under
3mm acrylic sheet (not glass) with a conservation mount. (Note: this etching
has been photographed in its frame and so there are reflections)

I am selling
this framed and exceptionally rare lifetime impression by Fragonard for a total
cost of AU$439 (currently US$317.22/EUR284.66/GBP219.04 at the time of this
listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this rare original Fragonard, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
your payment easy.

This print has been sold

Seldom does one
even see an original Fragonard etching and certainly not one as beautiful as
this. The print may be small in physical size, but the lightness of the
artist's touch and the confidence of drawing showcases Fragonard's stature as
one of the most famous French masters of the Rocco period.

The subject is
based on Annibal Carrache's design for the ceiling dome of the cathedral at
Piacenza. If anyone has had the same opportunity as the cook and I have had to
be stranded in the small narrow street medieval and now industrial town of
Piacenza waiting for our gardener to recover in hospital, I suspect that seeing
the grandeur of such a design would be like a glimpse into heaven.

Be mindful when
looking at this image that there is a big difference between an angel carrying
a palm and crown designed for a ceiling and one designed for a wall. A good
design for an angel destined for a ceiling should make her appear to float
rather than fall and this angel floats marvellously.

I am selling
this finely executed etching of wrestlers for the total cost of AU$104
(currently US$75.52/EUR67.67/GBP51.56 at the time of posting this print)
including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this forest scene exemplifying the spirit of the
Barbizon School, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will
send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This etching by
Gilbert is a graphic translation of a painting by Falguière, exhibited at the
Paris Salon in 1875 and now in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

For those who
are interested in fight scenes, I wish to draw a comparison between this
etching of struggling wresters and the lithograph of pugilists battling for
supremacy by George Bellows: “Stag at Sharkey’s”—arguably one of the most
famous American prints of the 20th century.

At first glance
there are many similarities connecting these two prints. For example, both
prints showcase two figures joined in combat as the centre of attention. After
a cursory glance, however, the differences become more apparent.

Beyond the
strength of Bellow’s composition where the arrangement of the spectators
augment the rhythm of the battling man-stags, there is a difference in how the
frenzy of the fighters is portrayed. In the case of Gilbert’s etching, the
figures are carefully balanced so that their distribution of physical weight
makes them appear stable (i.e. they are unlikely to fall over). By contrast,
Bellows makes the clash of his fighters top-heavy by “playing down”/minimising
the viewer’s interest in the role that the fighter’s legs play in supporting
the men’s weight.

From a personal
standpoint, what Gilbert portrays is a TIMELESS moment in the fighters’ battle;
whereas, what Bellows portrays is a SPECIFIC moment of fighters colliding
mid-flight.

Condition:
marvellously rich and well-inked impression with good margins. The sheet has
glue stains in the margins (recto) but is otherwise in good condition (i.e.
there are no tears, foxing or blemishes beyond the glue marks).

I am selling
this magnificent image of ancient oaks in the Fontinebleau Forest made famous
by the Barbizon school of artists for the total cost of AU$132 (currently US$94.81/EUR85.13/GBP64.85
at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this forest scene exemplifying the spirit of the
Barbizon School, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will
send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

I purchased
this print many years ago for the simple reason: it was beautiful—stunningly beautiful!
I then sought to acquire more prints by the artist with the mistaken idea that
his other prints would be equally richly worked and gorgeous. Sadly, I discovered
that his other images were not so romantic. Indeed, I was somewhat shocked to
discover that his earlier work, featuring mainly architectural views, matched
what FL Leipnik in his unreserved assessment of artists in “A History of French
Etching from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day” (1924) describes as “indifferent
etching and lack of feeling …” (p. 125).

Regardless of what
may be seen as emotional dryness of his earlier prints (e.g. his series of 300
etchings of Paris published in three volumes between 1862 and 1866 and his series
of 12 etchings of “The Women of Paris during the War”), this particular print
along with another landscape etching, “La Montée”, earned the praise of Leipnik
who perceived it as having “incomparably greater merit” (ibid).

Condition: rich impression with generous margins. There is
light spotting, otherwise the sheet is in excellent condition for its age.

I am selling this exceptionally fine lithograph along with
the next lithograph I am listing, “Pin maritime ou de Bordeaux” by the same artist,
(i.e. two lithographs by Demanne after Deshayes) for AU$110 in total (currently
US$79.04/EUR71.10/GBP54.05 at the time of posting this listing) including
postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this pair of botanical
drawings, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send
you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

De Demanne after
the illustration by Deshayes published in Paris by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph
Duchesne in "Guide de la Culture des Bois, ou Herbier Forestier,"
(the atlas contains 64 lithographs), 1826

Condition: rich impression with generous margins. There is
spotting, otherwise the sheet is in good condition for its age.

Recently I had an interesting discussion with a long-distance
internet friend about a woodblock print by the legendary Japanese printmaker,
Hiroshige. The point of interest in our short discussion concerned Hiroshige’s
choice to separate the key subject of the print (viz. travellers on horseback
and walking) from the representation of falling snow depicted behind them. My
standpoint was that by showing the figures set against a background of falling
snow was not as visually satisfying as immersing the figures within a veil of
snow falling all around them.

If I may now link that discussion with this pair of prints,
I wish to suggest that the artists who drew these botanical illustrations
(Demanne, the lithographer and Deshayes, the designer) are like artists who
allow falling snow to be in front of the key subject. What I mean by this
comment—especially seeing that there is clearly no snow featured in the
prints—is that these artists have represented the true way that pine cones and
needles are attached to their stems and they have achieved this realism by
ensuring that features in the front (i.e. closer to the viewer) obscure those
behind. Although I would be hesitant to propose that true scientific
objectivity is about not showing everything, in these illustrations there may
be the case for an argument.

Condition:
crisp and well-inked impression with irregular margins (as published). There
are minor handling creases otherwise in excellent condition for its age (i.e. the
sheet is clean and without tears, stains or foxing).

Condition:
crisp and well-inked impression with irregular margins (as published). There
are minor handling creases otherwise in excellent condition for its age (i.e.
the sheet is clean and without tears, stains or foxing).

Condition:
crisp but slightly silvery impression with margins around the borderline, but
trimmed before plate marks and in good condition. There are remnants of
mounting hinges and pencil notes from previous collectors (verso).

I am selling
this early etching capturing the spirit of the Nordic landscape for AU$115 in
total (currently US$82.63/EUR74.34/GBP56.51 at the time of posting this
listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this old master print, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

Condition:
strong, well-inked lifetime impression with no wear to the plate with margins
around the borderline, but trimmed on or before plate marks and in excellent
condition. There are remnants of mounting hinges and notes from previous
collectors (verso).

I am selling
this rare, lifetime impression capturing the spirit of the Nordic landscape for
AU$225 in total (currently US$161.66/EUR145.44/GBP110.56 at the time of posting
this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this old master print, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

This print has been sold

When I was
looking at these two landscapes, the thought occurred to me about the
difference between Everdingen’s experience of village life in the mountains of
Sweden and Norway and my very limited experience of small towns in the
mountains of Australia. One of the big differences that I perceive is the site
where folk in the mountains of Europe tend to situate their houses compared to
those living in the mountains of Australia. If I may propose a broad
generalisation (that may or may not be true and I am interested in readers’
comments): the Europeans choose to build houses in the mountain valleys with
many streams, trees and boulders, whereas the Australians choose the mountain
tops so that they can see everything—except nearby streams, trees and boulders.